Biggest fish I've caught in the park was a 14" brown. Actually, it wasn't me, it was my smart aleck teen age son (but I did put him on the fish so I can claim it right??). He caught it just upstream from the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area. It was a brute and fought like a much larger fish.

He has caught much larger fish, but that fish was a real treat coming from the Smoky's stream.

Rog 1 and Bran--There was also a trophy stream on the N. C. side in the same time period. It was Bradley Fork, and rest assured it had 16-inch (and bigger) rainbows in it. As a teenager I caught a few rainbows of that size and larger in Deep Creek and hooked a bunch. Unfortunately I knew so little I didn't understand how to play a fish from the reel (and my reel only had a click drag anyway).
As for keeping trophy fish, even as wall hangers, there's no need today. Some quick measurements and a couple of photos can lead to a plastic mount which will last much loner and look much better than the old-time skin mounts.

What a great thread! I've yet to catch my Smokies monster, but I'm sure he's out there...and I may never get him, but that's ok. If I catch a few and get to enjoy the mountains, that's enough for me. But those are some monster fish! Thanks for sharing that Hugh!

Ahaa, after I linked it I saw it had a link to "LRO comments", duh! Anyhow it's worthy of a "monster trout" thread for sure! Congrats to the gent that caught this brute!
Just another reminder that they're being caught, they're there, all the pieces just have to fall together on that one single cast.

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<(((>< In tribute to Ben, Duck Hunter extraordinaire, and man's best friend.

Looks like the real thing to me. And also, after a few clicks, tells me where to NOT bother fishing this year. Do we really feel the need to disclose every special place on the internet? I mean, don't get me wrong - it's not this is a "secret location" but couple it with that photograph and....well,....whatever....

Looks like the real thing to me. And also, after a few clicks, tells me where to NOT bother fishing this year. Do we really feel the need to disclose every special place on the internet? I mean, don't get me wrong - it's not this is a "secret location" but couple it with that photograph and....well,....whatever....